Mountain (band)
Encyclopedia
Mountain is an American
hard rock
band
that formed in Long Island
, New York
in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West
, bassist Felix Pappalardi
and drummer N. D. Smart
, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today. Best known for the song "Mississippi Queen
", Mountain is one of many bands to be commonly credited as having influenced the development of heavy metal music
in the 1970s.
The beginning of the live recording of their song "Long Red
" has become one of the most sampled drum breaks in hip hop, sampled in songs by EPMD
, Pete Rock & CL Smooth
, A Tribe Called Quest
, Nas
, Kanye West
, Game, among many others.
, formerly of the Long Island
R&B
band The Vagrants
, recorded a solo album titled Mountain (a reference to West's one-time physical bulk) with bassist
and former Cream
collaborator Felix Pappalardi
producing. The album also featured former Remains
drummer N.D. Smart. The album spotlighted West's raw vocals and melodic, bluesy guitar style, and Pappalardi's heavy and elegant bass lines were prominent throughout, and according to West when Pappalardi asked what would be next West suggested the pair go on the road. Though heavily inspired by seminal British
blues-rock
band Cream
(with which Pappalardi had been a frequent collaborator: he produced Disraeli Gears
, Goodbye and Wheels of Fire
, also contributing viola
, brass
, bells and organ
to the latter), keyboardist Steve Knight
was added. Naming themselves after West's album, West, Pappalardi, Smart, and Knight played shows on the West Coast before getting to play their fourth concert as a working band at the 1969 Woodstock Festival
in Bethel, New York
.
Mountain was received enthusiastically by the festival audience but the band did not appear in the film of the event
, nor was their performance included on volume 1 of the festival's live album
, though their performances of "Blood of the Sun" (from West's album) and "Theme for an Imaginary Western" (a song they planned to record for Climbing and co-written by former Cream bassist Jack Bruce) appeared on the second volume of Woodstock performances.
Soon after Woodstock, Smart was replaced by Laurence "Corky" Laing
. who was the drummer on the classic Climbing!
, which was released in March 1970. It led off with what became the band's signature song, "Mississippi Queen
", which reached #21 in the Billboard Hot 100
, and being featured in the 1971 cult film Vanishing Point, while the album reached #17 in the Billboard 200
. Mountain began a hectic touring schedule in the middle of which they recorded a followup album, Nantucket Sleighride, released in January 1971. This album reached the #16, but failed to yield a hit single. The title track was used in the UK
as the theme to ITV
's Sunday political program Weekend World
. After these early releases the band continued to receive a certain measure of critical acclaim but never again achieved great commercial success.
After Nantucket Sleighride, the band produced Flowers of Evil
consisting of one side of studio material and one live side, culled from a concert at New York
's Fillmore East
. Within a year, West has since cited a combination of drug abuse within the band and Pappalardi's road weariness and burgeoning hearing impairment as primary factors, Mountain broke up. A live album
, Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On
, was issued in May 1972.
Pappalardi returned to studio work, while West and Laing formed West, Bruce and Laing
with former Cream
bassist Jack Bruce
. Their first American performance was a Carnegie Hall
concert, prompting a bidding war that Columbia Records
won, and the new trio cut two studio albums and a live release over the next two years.
) on keyboards and guitar; the new lineup toured and produced a double
live album Twin Peaks
from the tour. The studio work Avalanche
, for which Laing returned to play drums and David Perry became the new second guitarist, would be Mountain's final album with Pappalardi as a participant; the group broke up again late in 1974.
On April 17, 1983, Gail Collins Pappalardi
, Pappalardi's wife and songwriting partner (she had designed many of the band's album covers and wrote many of their lyrics), shot Pappalardi in the neck in their fifth-floor East Side Manhattan
apartment. He was pronounced dead at the scene and Collins was charged with second-degree murder. Later cleared of that charge, she was convicted of the lesser criminally negligent homicide
and sentenced to 16 months to four years in prison. After her release from jail, she vanished into private life.
After pursuing separate musical paths for almost a decade, West and Laing reunited Mountain, recruiting Mark Clarke to play bass and recorded Go For Your Life
in 1985. (The album was dedicated to Pappalardi's memory.) The same line-up recorded a follow-up, Man's World
, over a decade later. West and Laing have continued touring together, both under West's name and under the Mountain name ever since, with bassists including Richie Scarlet (known for his work with Ace Frehley
, Sebastian Bach
and his multiple solo records) to round out the line-up. In 2002 the band released Mystic Fire
. Their most recent album is 2007's Masters Of War
, featuring twelve Bob Dylan
covers and a guest appearance from Ozzy Osbourne
.
In 2003 West and Laing authored a book of recollections entitled Nantucket Sleighride and Other Mountain on-the-Road Stories detailing their time with the band at its peak and their subsequent careers.
Mountain's video game debut came in 2007 on RedOctane's Guitar Hero III, featuring "Mississippi Queen" as a playable track. The song is also featured in the Harmonix video game Rock Band, although the version featured is a cover of the studio recording.
Fellow Long Island native Howard Stern has called Mountain one of his favourite bands and has occasionally played their music on his show. Other Mountain fans included Johnny Ramone
, Karma to Burn
, and John Frusciante
(the Red Hot Chili Peppers track "Readymade" off 2006's Stadium Arcadium features a Mountain-influenced riff).
The band headed out on the road during October and November, 2008, on a North American tour opening for Joe Satriani
, and with former Michael Schenker Group
member Rev Jones on bass. A review of the San Diego House of Blues
date covered the Mountain set, including "Blowing In The Wind" from the Masters of War album, with enthusiasm. Of the Satriani set, the reviewer was also pleased with the blues
influence he felt Mountain brought to the evening, and with West joining in a Satriani-led, closing "Stormy Monday" and "Going Down" blues jam.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
that formed in Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West
Leslie West
Leslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...
, bassist Felix Pappalardi
Felix Pappalardi
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist.- Early life :Pappalardi was born in the Bronx, New York...
and drummer N. D. Smart
N. D. Smart
Norman D. Smart is an American drummer.He replaced Chip Damiani in The Remains in 1966, shortly before their split.He then joined Mountain in 1969 and played on their first gigs, before being replaced by Corky Laing in 1970....
, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today. Best known for the song "Mississippi Queen
Mississippi Queen
"Mississippi Queen" is a song by the American rock band Mountain. Considered a rock classic, it was their most successful single, reaching #21 in the Billboard Hot 100 record chart in 1970...
", Mountain is one of many bands to be commonly credited as having influenced the development of heavy metal music
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
in the 1970s.
The beginning of the live recording of their song "Long Red
Long Red
"Long Red" is a song recorded by the band Mountain from their album Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On. It is notable as one of the most sample drum breaks in the history of hip hop music.-Samples:...
" has become one of the most sampled drum breaks in hip hop, sampled in songs by EPMD
EPMD
EPMD is an American hip hop group from Brentwood, New York. The group's name is a concatenation of the members' name "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referencing its members, emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith...
, Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth are a hip-hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, All Souled Out and followed with 1992's Mecca and the Soul Brother LP.-The Golden Age :...
, A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
, Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
, Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, Game, among many others.
60s-70s
The band was formed shortly after Leslie WestLeslie West
Leslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...
, formerly of the Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
band The Vagrants
The Vagrants
The Vagrants were a Long Island-based rock and blue-eyed soul group from the 1960s. The group was composed of Peter Sabatino on vocals, harmonica, and tambourine, Leslie West on vocals and guitar, Larry West on vocals and bass guitar, Jerry Storch on organ, and Roger Mansour on drums.- Rise to...
, recorded a solo album titled Mountain (a reference to West's one-time physical bulk) with bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
and former Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
collaborator Felix Pappalardi
Felix Pappalardi
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist.- Early life :Pappalardi was born in the Bronx, New York...
producing. The album also featured former Remains
The Remains
The Remains were a mid-1960s rock group from Boston, Massachusetts, led by Barry Tashian, who later was harmony vocalist and guitarist for Emmylou Harris and part of the duo, Barry and Holly Tashian...
drummer N.D. Smart. The album spotlighted West's raw vocals and melodic, bluesy guitar style, and Pappalardi's heavy and elegant bass lines were prominent throughout, and according to West when Pappalardi asked what would be next West suggested the pair go on the road. Though heavily inspired by seminal British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
band Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
(with which Pappalardi had been a frequent collaborator: he produced Disraeli Gears
Disraeli Gears
Disraeli Gears is the second album by British supergroup Cream. It was released in November 1967 and went on to reach #5 on the UK Albums Chart. It was also their American breakthrough, becoming a massive seller there in 1968, reaching #4 on the American charts...
, Goodbye and Wheels of Fire
Wheels of Fire
Wheels of Fire is the name of a double album recorded by Cream. The release was largely successful, scoring the band a #3 peak in the United Kingdom and a #1 in the United States, and became the world's first platinum-selling double album....
, also contributing viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
, bells and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
to the latter), keyboardist Steve Knight
Steve Knight (musician)
Steve Knight is an American musician best known as the keyboardist for Mountain, a rock band of the early 1970s.Knight was born in New York to artist parents. From 1938–1950, his family lived in Woodstock, New York. In 1950, his father became a professor at Columbia University and moved the...
was added. Naming themselves after West's album, West, Pappalardi, Smart, and Knight played shows on the West Coast before getting to play their fourth concert as a working band at the 1969 Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
in Bethel, New York
Bethel, New York
Bethel is a town in Sullivan County, New York, USA. The population has been estimated at 4,532 in 2007.The town received worldwide fame after it became the host of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, which was originally planned for Wallkill, New York, but was relocated to Bethel after Wallkill withdrew.-...
.
Mountain was received enthusiastically by the festival audience but the band did not appear in the film of the event
Woodstock (film)
Woodstock is a 1970 American documentary on the Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the benchmark of concert movies and one of the most entertaining documentaries ever made...
, nor was their performance included on volume 1 of the festival's live album
Woodstock: Music From the Original Soundtrack and More
Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More is the live album of the 1969 Woodstock concert. Originally released on Atlantic Records' Cotillion label as a set of 3 LPs in 1970 , it was re-released as a double CD in 1994. Veteran producer Eddie Kramer was the sound engineer during the...
, though their performances of "Blood of the Sun" (from West's album) and "Theme for an Imaginary Western" (a song they planned to record for Climbing and co-written by former Cream bassist Jack Bruce) appeared on the second volume of Woodstock performances.
Soon after Woodstock, Smart was replaced by Laurence "Corky" Laing
Corky Laing
Laurence Gordon "Corky" Laing is a Canadian rock drummer, best known as a longtime member of pioneering American hard rock band Mountain...
. who was the drummer on the classic Climbing!
Climbing!
-Personnel:Mountain*Leslie West – guitars on all tracks except 6; vocals on all tracks except 6 and 7*Felix Pappalardi – bass on all tracks except 6 and 7; piano on tracks 1, 2 and 9; rhythm guitar and vocals on track 7; production...
, which was released in March 1970. It led off with what became the band's signature song, "Mississippi Queen
Mississippi Queen
"Mississippi Queen" is a song by the American rock band Mountain. Considered a rock classic, it was their most successful single, reaching #21 in the Billboard Hot 100 record chart in 1970...
", which reached #21 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, and being featured in the 1971 cult film Vanishing Point, while the album reached #17 in the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. Mountain began a hectic touring schedule in the middle of which they recorded a followup album, Nantucket Sleighride, released in January 1971. This album reached the #16, but failed to yield a hit single. The title track was used in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as the theme to ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Sunday political program Weekend World
Weekend World
Weekend World is a British television political series, made by London Weekend Television and broadcast from 1972 to 1988.Created by John Birt not long after he moved to LWT, the series was broadcast on the ITV network at lunchtimes on Sundays...
. After these early releases the band continued to receive a certain measure of critical acclaim but never again achieved great commercial success.
After Nantucket Sleighride, the band produced Flowers of Evil
Flowers of Evil (album)
Flowers of Evil is the third album by American hard rock band Mountain. It was their first live outing, with the second vinyl side consisting of material recorded on October 10, 1971 at the Woods-Brown Amphitheater of American University, Washington DC....
consisting of one side of studio material and one live side, culled from a concert at New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
. Within a year, West has since cited a combination of drug abuse within the band and Pappalardi's road weariness and burgeoning hearing impairment as primary factors, Mountain broke up. A live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On
Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On
Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On is the fourth album by hard rock band Mountain. Released following the band's first breakup in 1972, Windfall Records would compile the album using old live material. Mountain would later reform in 1974. The title comes from J. R. R...
, was issued in May 1972.
Pappalardi returned to studio work, while West and Laing formed West, Bruce and Laing
West, Bruce and Laing
West, Bruce and Laing were a blues-rock power trio super-group consisting of Leslie West , Jack Bruce and Corky Laing . In 2009 West and Laing teamed up with Jack Bruce's son, Malcolm, and began touring as West, Bruce Jr...
with former Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
bassist Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
. Their first American performance was a Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
concert, prompting a bidding war that Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
won, and the new trio cut two studio albums and a live release over the next two years.
1980s & on
In 1974, West and Pappalardi reformed Mountain with Allan Schwartzberg on drums and Robert Mann (ex DreamsDreams (band)
Dreams was one of the original prominent jazz rock bands in the period of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and recorded for Columbia Records. Dreams was formed by Jeff Kent and Doug Lubahn, who together wrote and arranged all their original songs. The band began as a trio and evolved into a...
) on keyboards and guitar; the new lineup toured and produced a double
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
live album Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks (album)
Twin Peaks is a live album by hard rock band Mountain. Their first release following their 1972 breakup and subsequent reformation, the lineup consisted of original member Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi joined by guitarist/keyboardist Bob Mann and drummer Allan Schwartzberg. The revamped Mountain...
from the tour. The studio work Avalanche
Avalanche (Mountain album)
Avalanche is a 1974 album by Mountain, currently available on CD. It featured a reunion with drummer Corky Laing.- Track listing :# "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" - 5:05# "Sister Justice" - 3:58...
, for which Laing returned to play drums and David Perry became the new second guitarist, would be Mountain's final album with Pappalardi as a participant; the group broke up again late in 1974.
On April 17, 1983, Gail Collins Pappalardi
Gail Collins Pappalardi
-Biography:She was wife of the late Felix Pappalardi. She contributed lyrics to many Mountain songs and co-wrote Cream's "World of Pain" with Pappalardi and "Strange Brew" with Pappalardi and Eric Clapton...
, Pappalardi's wife and songwriting partner (she had designed many of the band's album covers and wrote many of their lyrics), shot Pappalardi in the neck in their fifth-floor East Side Manhattan
East Side (Manhattan)
The East Side of Manhattan refers to the side of Manhattan Island which abuts the East River and faces Brooklyn and Queens. Fifth Avenue, Central Park, and lower Broadway separate it from the West Side....
apartment. He was pronounced dead at the scene and Collins was charged with second-degree murder. Later cleared of that charge, she was convicted of the lesser criminally negligent homicide
Negligent homicide
Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against people who, through criminal negligence, allow others to die.Negligent Homicide is a lesser included offense to first and second degree murder, in the sense that someone guilty of this offense can expect a more lenient sentence, often with...
and sentenced to 16 months to four years in prison. After her release from jail, she vanished into private life.
After pursuing separate musical paths for almost a decade, West and Laing reunited Mountain, recruiting Mark Clarke to play bass and recorded Go For Your Life
Go For Your Life (album)
Go For Your Life is a studio album released in 1985 by Mountain.-Track listing:# "Hard Times", 4,20# "Spark", 3,36# "She Loves Her Rock ", 3,39# "Bardot Damage", 3,59# "Shimmy on the Footlights", 4,13...
in 1985. (The album was dedicated to Pappalardi's memory.) The same line-up recorded a follow-up, Man's World
Man's World (album)
Man's World is a 1996 album by Mountain. It was their first album for over 10 years. It featured a cover of the James Brown song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World."-Track listing:# "In Your Face" 4:19# "Nobody Gonna Steal My Thunder" 3:50...
, over a decade later. West and Laing have continued touring together, both under West's name and under the Mountain name ever since, with bassists including Richie Scarlet (known for his work with Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
, Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach is a Canadian heavy metal singer who achieved mainstream success as frontman of Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. Since his departure from Skid Row, he has had many television roles, acted within Broadway plays, and leads a successful solo career.-Early life:Bach was born Sebastian...
and his multiple solo records) to round out the line-up. In 2002 the band released Mystic Fire
Mystic Fire
Mystic Fire is a 2002 album by Mountain. It features the song "Immortal", which was cowritten with and originally performed by Clutch.The song "Immortal" was originally released with different lyrics, and a different arrangement, as the song "Baby I'm Down" on Mountain, Leslie West's first solo album...
. Their most recent album is 2007's Masters Of War
Masters of War (album)
Masters of War is a 2007 album by Mountain. The album consists entirely of Bob Dylan covers.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Bob Dylan# "Masters of War" 4:38# "Serve Somebody" 3:55...
, featuring twelve Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
covers and a guest appearance from Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
.
In 2003 West and Laing authored a book of recollections entitled Nantucket Sleighride and Other Mountain on-the-Road Stories detailing their time with the band at its peak and their subsequent careers.
Mountain's video game debut came in 2007 on RedOctane's Guitar Hero III, featuring "Mississippi Queen" as a playable track. The song is also featured in the Harmonix video game Rock Band, although the version featured is a cover of the studio recording.
Fellow Long Island native Howard Stern has called Mountain one of his favourite bands and has occasionally played their music on his show. Other Mountain fans included Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone
John William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
, Karma to Burn
Karma to Burn
Karma to Burn, sometimes known as K2B, is a desert rock/stoner metal band from Morgantown, West Virginia comprising guitarist William Mecum, bassist Rich Mullins, and drummer Rob Oswald...
, and John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
(the Red Hot Chili Peppers track "Readymade" off 2006's Stadium Arcadium features a Mountain-influenced riff).
The band headed out on the road during October and November, 2008, on a North American tour opening for Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
, and with former Michael Schenker Group
Michael Schenker Group
The Michael Schenker Group is a guitar-oriented hard rock band formed in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist, Michael Schenker. In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Schenker Group, which lasted until 1992. After that, the Michael Schenker Group was reformed.The...
member Rev Jones on bass. A review of the San Diego House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
date covered the Mountain set, including "Blowing In The Wind" from the Masters of War album, with enthusiasm. Of the Satriani set, the reviewer was also pleased with the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
influence he felt Mountain brought to the evening, and with West joining in a Satriani-led, closing "Stormy Monday" and "Going Down" blues jam.
Members
- Leslie WestLeslie WestLeslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...
- lead vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1969–present) - Felix PappalardiFelix PappalardiFelix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist.- Early life :Pappalardi was born in the Bronx, New York...
- bass, lead vocals, keyboards (1969–1972; 1974–1976) - Steve KnightSteve Knight (musician)Steve Knight is an American musician best known as the keyboardist for Mountain, a rock band of the early 1970s.Knight was born in New York to artist parents. From 1938–1950, his family lived in Woodstock, New York. In 1950, his father became a professor at Columbia University and moved the...
(keyboards) (1969–1972) - N.D. Smart - drums (1969)
- Corky LaingCorky LaingLaurence Gordon "Corky" Laing is a Canadian rock drummer, best known as a longtime member of pioneering American hard rock band Mountain...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion (1970–present) - Allan SchwartzbergAllan SchwartzbergAllan Schwartzberg is a famous studio musician drummer, most of whose recordings were made in the 1970s. He has played on hits such as Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye". He has played with KISS, James Brown and Peter Gabriel as well...
- drums (1974) - Bob Mann - guitar (1974)
- David Perry - guitar (1975–1976)
- Mark Clarke - bass (1985–1995)
- Ritchie Scarlett bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(?-2008) - Rev Jones - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2008–present)
Studio albums
- Climbing!Climbing!-Personnel:Mountain*Leslie West – guitars on all tracks except 6; vocals on all tracks except 6 and 7*Felix Pappalardi – bass on all tracks except 6 and 7; piano on tracks 1, 2 and 9; rhythm guitar and vocals on track 7; production...
(1970) - Nantucket Sleighride (1971)
- Flowers of EvilFlowers of Evil (album)Flowers of Evil is the third album by American hard rock band Mountain. It was their first live outing, with the second vinyl side consisting of material recorded on October 10, 1971 at the Woods-Brown Amphitheater of American University, Washington DC....
(1971; partially live) - AvalancheAvalanche (Mountain album)Avalanche is a 1974 album by Mountain, currently available on CD. It featured a reunion with drummer Corky Laing.- Track listing :# "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" - 5:05# "Sister Justice" - 3:58...
(1974) - Go for Your LifeGo For Your Life (album)Go For Your Life is a studio album released in 1985 by Mountain.-Track listing:# "Hard Times", 4,20# "Spark", 3,36# "She Loves Her Rock ", 3,39# "Bardot Damage", 3,59# "Shimmy on the Footlights", 4,13...
(1985) - Man's WorldMan's World (album)Man's World is a 1996 album by Mountain. It was their first album for over 10 years. It featured a cover of the James Brown song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World."-Track listing:# "In Your Face" 4:19# "Nobody Gonna Steal My Thunder" 3:50...
(1996) - Mystic FireMystic FireMystic Fire is a 2002 album by Mountain. It features the song "Immortal", which was cowritten with and originally performed by Clutch.The song "Immortal" was originally released with different lyrics, and a different arrangement, as the song "Baby I'm Down" on Mountain, Leslie West's first solo album...
(2002) - Masters of WarMasters of War (album)Masters of War is a 2007 album by Mountain. The album consists entirely of Bob Dylan covers.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Bob Dylan# "Masters of War" 4:38# "Serve Somebody" 3:55...
(2007)
Live albums
- Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever OnMountain Live: The Road Goes Ever OnMountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On is the fourth album by hard rock band Mountain. Released following the band's first breakup in 1972, Windfall Records would compile the album using old live material. Mountain would later reform in 1974. The title comes from J. R. R...
(1972) - Twin PeaksTwin Peaks (album)Twin Peaks is a live album by hard rock band Mountain. Their first release following their 1972 breakup and subsequent reformation, the lineup consisted of original member Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi joined by guitarist/keyboardist Bob Mann and drummer Allan Schwartzberg. The revamped Mountain...
(1974)
Compilation albums
- The Best of MountainThe Best of MountainThe Best Of Mountain is the first compilation by American hard rock band Mountain. It consists of material recorded throughout 1970-1971, culled from their first three LPs...
(1973) - Over the Top (2001)
- Crossroader - An Anthology 70/74 (2010)